Risk-taking has become mainstream: PM Modi lauds startups marking 10 years of Startup India

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on Friday highlighted the remarkable transformation of India’s startup ecosystem over the past decade, calling it a revolution driven by confidence, innovation, and a changing societal mindset toward risk-taking.

Addressing entrepreneurs and stakeholders of India’s startups ecosystem, the Prime Minister on the occassion of on National Startup Day said that for him, the confidence and impression of startups matter more than numbers alone.

Recalling the early days of the Startup India initiative, launched ten years ago, he shared an anecdote from an event at Vigyan Bhavan where a woman entrepreneur had spoken about the resistance she faced at home.

When she decided to quit her job to start a startup, her mother had feared it would lead to “disaster,” PM Modi recalled.

“Today, in these ten years, we have come a very long way,” the Prime Minister noted, underlining how attitudes toward entrepreneurship have evolved across the country.

The Prime Minister pointed out that a decade ago there was very limited scope for innovation in India, whereas Startup India has now emerged as a nationwide movement.

He said the number of startups has grown from just about 500 ten years ago to more than 200,000 today.
Highlighting India’s growing global footprint, he said that while there were only four unicorns in 2014, the country now has about 125 active unicorn startups.

Reflecting on changing attitudes toward entrepreneurship, the Prime Minister said that ideas once dismissed as fringe because they involved risk-taking are now becoming fashionable.

“Today, risk-taking has become mainstream,” he said, adding that people who think beyond the security of a monthly salary are no longer merely accepted but are now respected.

The Prime Minister said these changes reflect a deeper cultural shift in India’s approach to innovation, enterprise, and self-reliance, positioning startups as a key driver of the country’s economic future.